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New to Studio Ninja? Start here!
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Finished your settings? Create your first test job!
Finished your settings? Create your first test job!

Learn how to get up and running quickly by completing your settings, creating your first test job and sending your first invoice

Chris Garbacz avatar
Written by Chris Garbacz
Updated over a week ago

Creating a test job is a great way to make sure everything is working perfectly before you start adding in real jobs. 

Watch this short video demonstrating how to create a test job

Create your first test job

What is a job? Think of a job as a shoot. Essentially it's a folder of all the information you need for a shoot. 

For example, Jenny & Matt's Wedding is a job and in this job you will find all the client info, job info, quotes, invoices, contract, questionnaires, notes, outgoing emails and a workflow status keeping everything neat and tidy and all in one place.

Step 1: Add a new job! You can add a new job from several different places in Studio Ninja.

  1. The Dashboard: Click the green '+' button located within Upcoming Shoots & Appointment box. 

  2. The Jobs tab: Click the green 'Add New Job' button.  

  3. The Calendar tab: Click the green 'Add New' button OR click a date/time within the Calendar. The date/time will pre-populate the Job Schedule. 

  4. The Client Profile page: Click the green 'Add New Job' button or '+' if there's already an existing job. The Client will automatically become the primary client for this job.

Step 2: Complete the New Job lightbox. 


This lightbox consists of four sections:

Primary Client Contact:
Select an existing client by typing into the input box or click the 'Add new client' button to create a new client for this job. 

Step 3: Add yourself as the primary client. Click the 'Add new client' button and add your name and email address, plus whatever other fields you would like to complete.

You can also add a secondary client (groom) to the job. Just click the 'Add secondary client contact'.

Job Details:
This is where you give your job a name, for example, Jenny & Matt’s Wedding or Johnston Family Portrait. 

Step 4: Use the job name: TEST JOB.  

Step 5: Select a Job type from the drop down menu. To add, remove or edit Job Types go to Settings > Job Types. Click here to learn more about Job Types.

Step 6: Choose the default workflow. To add, remove or edit Workflows go to Settings > Workflows. Click here to learn more about Workflows.  


Main Shoot:
This is where you choose a date and time for your job. If it's a wedding, you may want to tick the 'all day event' checkbox to block out the whole day in your calendar.

Step 7: Choose any date and time but think of it as a real shoot, so the more realistic the better. 

If you don't have a date for your shoot, simply click on the 'No date has been confirmed yet' tickbox.


Job Notes:
Lastly, this is where you add any specific job notes, for example, names of people attending the shoot, shoot ideas and inspiration, shoot schedule, etc.

Congratulations, you've just created your first job!

Welcome to the Job Profile page. This is the home of all the client information, job information, invoices, quotes, contracts, questionnaires, notes relating to this specific job. 

Whenever you need to do anything relating to this specific job, always come back to this page.

Create your first invoice 

IMPORTANT: Before creating and sending your first invoice, make sure you have gone through and completed all your settings.

Now lets create your first invoice!

Step 8: Click on the green 'Add new invoice' button on the right hand side inside the Invoice box. 

Welcome to the New Invoice page!

Step 9: Choose a product / package from the drop down list or simply type in the fields provided. Click here to learn more about how to create and send invoices.

You should have already pre created your products / packages in Settings. Click here to learn more about products / packages

Step 10: Choose a payment schedule. 

Payment schedules automatically divide your invoices into different payments, due at different times. For example you might setup a payment schedule of 50% deposit due in 7 days and the remaining balance due 2 weeks before the shoot. Click here to learn more about payment schedules

Step 11: Choose a contract from the drop down list. 

You can create your own contracts in Settings > Contract Templates or you can choose one of our default contracts. Click here to learn more about contracts 

Step 12: Choose a questionnaire from the drop down list. 

You can create your own questionnaires in Settings > Questionnaires or you can choose one of our default questionnaires. Click here to learn more about questionnaires

Step 13: Click 'Save Invoice'

Send your first invoice

After saving the invoice you will then be taken to the View Invoice page (below). This is where you preform all the actions relating to invoicing. For example:

  • recording payments

  • paying invoices online

  • writing off payments

  • sending invoices

  • previewing invoices

  • editing invoices

  • printing invoices

  • deleting invoice

In this case, if you are happy with everything, click the 'Send Invoice' button and the Send Invoice lightbox will appear.

By default the Invoice Email Template will appear so all you have to do is click the 'Send invoice' button. 

Feel free to make changes to the body text of this email to make it sound more on brand or permanently make changes to this email by going to Settings > Email Settings & Templates and editing the Invoice Email Template. 

Previewing your invoice

Go and check your email. Open it and click the link that says 'Please click here to view and pay your invoice online'.

You will now be taken to the client portal. This is what your clients will see and this is where your clients will accepts quotes, sign contracts, complete questionnaires and pay invoices. 

Congratulations, you've just created your first job and sent your first invoice. If you are happy with everything, it's time to start adding real jobs into Studio Ninja!

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